In an effort to improve customer service, companies are increasingly moving their data processing systems onto the Internet and providing web interfaces for their customers to see and manipulate their own data. Examples include my prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,468 and related U.S. application Ser. No. 09/237,521 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,049,801). Many other Internet based order entry and payment billing systems also exist.
Also companies are or soon will be outsourcing data processing for their own customers to third parties who, for example, develop and host the companies' web sites. This cuts costs and relieves companies of having to hire software expertise to service their customers and also relieves them of having to maintain hardware for scalability and to prevent service outages which erode customer confidence in the company. Further, hardware can be located in one place to minimize maintenance and bandwidth costs, while software and data entry can be located in one or multiple places where it is least expensive and can offer 24/7 coverage.
One difficulty companies face when considering whether to outsource data-processing to third party, Internet-based systems is the safeguarding of their and their clients' data. This problem is exacerbated when the company has a duty or professional responsibility to safeguard the data, such as a publicly traded company, law firm or medical practice. Another difficulty companies face in considering to outsource is continuity of service if, for example, the third party were to go out of business.
Many companies who currently perform their own data processing and are sensitized to the need to safeguard their and their customers' data have recently connected their LANs to the Internet, and are beginning to use third-party, Internet-based backup services (see FIG. 2). This provides a prudent off-site backup but does not offer the benefits of outsourcing the data processing to the Internet. Internet data backup companies include, inter alia, and Storage Tek.
Internet-based application service providers, so-called “ASPs” are known and provide the advantage that hardware and software maintenance and upgrades are centrally managed by a third party and not by each user or each LAN (see FIG. 3). User data may even be stored on the internet site, however, the data is still entered and manipulated by each user on his LAN/computer and the data manipulation and reporting is handled by each user on his LAN/computer.
What is desired, therefore, is an Internet-based data processing system which safeguards data providing an incentive for companies to outsource their data processing. Safeguarding applications, and especially any user customized settings, would also be desirable.